Saturday, October 31, 2015

It's About We the People, not They The Government

I am not happy about what I am seeing in Washington.
Frankly, I believe everyone feels this way. It’s about time that more people
felt angry with Washington DC backroom deals, big business bailouts, and big
labor cronyism.

Then again, I am not happy about being unhappy. Too many
people in this country were NOT angry. They were not even paying attention to
what was going on, or they turned a blind eye to the big promises and the
growing debt which followed. This profligacy is wrong.

Everyone: check out the first three words of the United
States Constitution: “We the People.”

That’s you and me, everyone! How often have we forgotten
that? How many of us have just cast our ballot then let the government, whether
at the local, state, or federal level go back into cruise control?

The last three words of the US Constitution give us another
hint about our role: “to the people.”

Where did I find those words? In the oft-neglected and
disrespected Tenth Amendment:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states
respectively, or to the people.”

Which powers are delegated to the United States, i.e. the
federal government? Check out Article One, Section Eight. Sadly, many students
– in college – don’t even know which specific and limited powers belong to the
feds in the first place. That ignorance cannot go unpunished, and young people
will find that a state which overextends its power, and overspends its
revenues, costs them dearly, both in money and liberty.

So, Tea Party activists, and frustrated Americans in
general, have raged against Washington, sending two waves of conservative
partisans to end the bickering and big spending. The situation has gotten better in some ways,
and yet the give-and-take of the backroom wheeling and dealing still spins
away. Another Boehner “young gun” has taken his place at the helm, with gavel
in hand: Paul Ryan. At least he didn’t hug and kiss Nancy Pelosi. The former
Vice Presidential candidate was not my first or second choice for Speaker of
the House. Guess what? He was neither the first nor the second choice of the
Establishment, but their chosen replacements were forced out. Let’s keep in
mind the victories as we march toward taking back our government. Furthermore,
the House Reps are up for reelection every two years. The system was designed
this way, to keep pressure on the lower chamber at all costs.

Conservatives not just in Washington but throughout the
country are flexing their muscles, demanding accountability. There is no longer
two parties, where the leadership of both remains content to spend money we
don’t have to impress people who don’t care for things that we either do not
need or cannot afford.

Paul Ryan is not the fighter that We the People need. The
good news, however, is that more people have called into Washington, and forced
heavy pressure on every lawmaker. Congressman David Brat, who beat down the
Establishment pick Eric Cantor in Eastern Virginia, has taken the strong charge
demanding better leadership and respect for the conservative members. The House
of Representatives is starting to act “representative” again.

As for the upper chamber, the US Senate, more young
conservatives are not just taking up the mantle to serve their country, but
taking on the Old Guard of Compromise and Cave. Mitch McConnell is about as
unpopular as it gets in Washington, DC. US Senator and now Presidential
candidate Ted Cruz has routinely and repeatedly slammed his lack of leadership,
or has now bad-mouthed him as a great “Democratic” majority leader.

More importantly, however, more voters on the ground are
paying attention, calling in, denying money to political parties and interest
groups if they do not honor and promote the public interest, i.e. the general
welfare.

In the US Senate, We the People need more Liberty-minded
conservatives who fight rather than take flight. At least we have Ted Cruz,
Rand Paul, Tom Cotton, Mike Lee, and more US Senators joining the fight against
the “Washington Cartel.” If the state legislatures cannot control the US
Senators, then the voters must form necessary coalitions to keep them on guard.
As of now, US Senator John McCain is facing heavy pressure and pain from local activists
throughout Arizona. The Republican Party has censured him a number of times,
and primary challenges abound to remove him from office. He promised to “build
the dang fence”. He didn’t, and conservatives now will be danged if they do not
remove him from office.

The fight is not over, and we are winning battles here and
there. The problem was that more of us needed to start fighting in the first
place. The state of the United States falls back to us. It has always been
about “We the People” not “They the government,” and we the people needed to
wake up and remember who helped form (and maintains) this “more perfect union”.